T.D. Jakes’ MegaFest expected to be Dallas’ largest 2013 convention

An estimated 100,000 conventioneers are expected to make MegaFest — the religious, entertainment and family-themed gathering hosted by T.D. Jakes Ministries — the best-attended Dallas convention of 2013, city and tourism officials said Tuesday.

The three-day event, scheduled for Aug. 29-31, will bring in an estimated $41 million in spending at hotels, restaurants and other venues in North Texas, according to the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The bureau lobbied for years to bring MegaFest “home” to Dallas, which also is home to The Potter’s House, Jakes’ megachurch.

It’s the first time the event will be in Dallas, following stints in Atlanta and South Africa.

If next year’s event proves successful, MegaFest could return to Dallas in 2015 and 2017, Phillip Jones, chief executive of the convention bureau, said at a news conference. Bureau officials announced the convention in October.

Jakes, who was at the news conference, said he has “thought for years, ‘I really, really do wish I didn’t have to travel all the way to Georgia and bring our whole team, thousands of volunteers to Georgia. I would love to be able to bring it to Dallas.’”

He said Atlanta had the transportation and infrastructure “to host a meeting of this magnitude.”

Now, he said, “I’m seeing the kind of museums and infrastructure and transportation mechanisms put in place” locally.

At least 77 percent of the event’s attendees come from outside the host city and 10 percent come from outside the continental U.S., Jakes said.

Of the estimated $41.1 million in spending, about $13.5 million is expected in food and drink sales, with $11.6 million expected to be spent on entertainment and shopping.

Spending for transportation, 22,000 hotel rooms and other items makes up the balance.

The event, which includes separate programs for men, women and children, and a possible film festival, is expected to use all of the Dallas Convention Center and American Airlines Center.

The Dallas convention bureau will chip in $600,000 to help offset the estimated $10 million cost of hosting the event.

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